He Says, She Says -- Getting Both Sides of the Story

kiya@evpl — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 14:46:00 GMT

It's intriguing to hear both sides of a story - especially if you aren't personally involved, or stuck in the middle.

I like books which cover the same events from two or more perspectives. There are a lot of books coming out now which show multiple viewpoints, and the ones I've found have been enjoyable:

Notes from the blender / Trish Cook and Brendan Halpin
Will Grayson, Will Grayson / John Green & David Levithan

Girl meets boy : because there are two sides to every story / edited by Kelly Milner Halls

Jenna & Jonah's fauxmance / Emily Franklin & Brendan Halpin

Boy Girl Boy / Ron Koertge

Sometimes the author will use two (or more) books to show the different sides of a story.

James Howe: The Misfits / Totally Joe / Addie on the Inside

Orson Scott Card: Ender's Game / Ender's Shadow

Stephanie Meyer had intended a fifth book in the Twilight series: Midnight Sun, which told the story of the first book again, but from Edward's point of view, rather than Bella's. When someone leaked the first part of the manuscript as she was writing it, Meyer stopped work on the project, and posted the work-in-progress on her website. As far as I know, she has no plans to go back and finish it.

If you have other titles to suggest that show two or more viewpoints, I'd like to hear them. Movies, too - I can only think of one right now.

Stolen children??!!

UndergroundLibrarian@evpl — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:20:00 GMT

Fourteen-year-old Amy had just completed a babysitting course, but as Peg Kehret wrote in the first paragraph of Stolen Children, "it did not cover what to do if two thugs with a gun showed up. She had to figure that out by herself."

As you can tell from the title, Amy and her 3-year-old charge Kendra were kidnapped. They were taken to a remote one-room cabin with no electricity or plumbing and very little food. Amy did her best to keep Kendra distracted from their plight while trying to figure out how to sneak clues onto the daily videotapes the kidnappers took to send to Kendra's parents.

The kidnappers were new at this endeavor and what little plans they had made fell through before they even began. Amy knew that they had only intended to kidnap Kendra and had no use for Amy. Since she was old enough to recognize them, Amy was sure they planned to kill her before they returned Kendra, even if the ransom was paid. And even though it was obvious that the kidnappers were none too bright, there was still the threat of that gun, and a knife, too.

This story plot is a lot like another book I read a long time ago, Prisoners at the Kitchen Table by Barbara Holland. That title is no longer in print, or in the public library system. Has anybody else out there read it?

One way this one is different is that it tells the story from the point of view of various people. Most of it is through Amy's eyes, but parts of it are through her best friend Jorja who works on figuring out Amy's hints on the videos and what they might mean. We also see things from the point of view of other minor characters who might be able to help the girls get rescued.

It was hard to stop reading this book until I got all 165 pages finished. I HAD to know what was going to happen to Amy and Kendra!

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He Says, She Says -- Getting Both Sides of the Story

Stolen children??!!